vs. VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA SATURDAY, Nov. 3, 2007 BEN HILL GRIFFIN STADIUM (88,548) 2007 GATOR FOOTBALL GAINESVILLE, FLA. 12:30 p.m. ET WEEKLY GAME NOTES RELEASED: OCT. 28, 2007 FLORIDA RETURNS TO “THE SWAMP” FOR HOMECOMING AGAINST VANDY GATOR STORYLINES The Florida-Vanderbilt game will mark the 41st meeting between the Gators and Commodores. UF This year’s game will be UF’s 83rd annual Homecom- has won each of the last 16 meetings and owns a 25-3-1 edge in the last 29 games between the ing contest. Florida has an all-time record of 60-20-2 in schools and a 29-9-2 series advantage overall. The Gators enter the game with a 5-3 overall record Homecoming games. The Gators have won 17 straight and are 3-3 in the Southeastern Conference. Vanderbilt is 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the league after Homecoming contests, marking the longest Homecom- facing Miami (Ohio) last Saturday. ing winning streak in school history. GATORS AT HOME UNDER COACH MEYER Coach Meyer is 17-5 all-time and 6-1 at UF in the Since Urban Meyer’s first season at the University of Florida in 2005, the Gators have posted a 16- month of November and has won 12 of the last 13 1 (.941) record at home. The chart below shows where the Gators rank nationally in several statistics outings in the month. Over the past four years, Urban in home games since the 2005 season: Meyer-led teams have gone 12-1 in the month with the Stat Total Rank (SEC/National) one loss coming on Nov. 12, 2005 at South Carolina Yards Per Game 433.2 1/21 (30-22). Points Per Game 36.6 1/12 Time of Possession 31:44 1/6 Passer Rating 166.8 1/2 Passing TDs 37 4/T16 GAME SETUP Rushing TDs 41 T3/T16 Overall TDs 78 3/T13 THE POLLS UF VU Associated Press T9th* NR USA Today Coaches’ 11th* NR CAPTAIN’S LEGACY WEEKEND BCS 11th* NR The Vanderbilt game serves as the Captain’s Legacy Weekend, which is an initiative by Coach Meyer * - as of Oct. 21 to invite UF’s former captains to take part in several activities surrounding the game, including attend- ing the team dinner Friday night. THE RECORDS UF VU Overall 5-3 5-3 SEC 3-3 2-3 GATORS YOUNG IN 2007 Overall, 49 players who have seen action in a game this year are either freshmen or sophomores. TELEVISION The game will be broadcast on Lincoln-Financial Eighteen of the 49 are true freshmen this season and 33 are either true or redshirt freshmen. Sports. Dave Neal (play-by-play), Dave Archer (color) and Dave Baker (sideline) call the action. UF returned 10 scholarship seniors and 11 scholarship juniors in 2007. Other than Florida’s 21 combined upperclassmen, there is not a school in the Southeastern Conference and only one in the POSTGAME For in-depth television coverage after the game, state of Florida (FIU) that has fewer than 28 combined juniors and seniors returning and the average the “Geico Gator Postgame Show” airs live imme- in the SEC is 34. diately following each game on Sun Sports, with interviews from outside the lockerroom, press con- The following chart breaks down the 176 starts made by Gators this season by class: ferences and analysis. Sun Sports reporter Todd Senior - 48 (27.2 pct.) Lewis will be on site. Junior - 45 (25.8 pct.) DELAYED TELEVISION Sophomore - 52 (29.5 pct.) Sun Sports, with David Steele (play-by-play), Larry Freshman - 31 (17.6 pct.) Vettel (color) and Steve Babik (sideline) will air the game at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4, on Sun The following is a breakdown of positions by the percentage of scholarship players that are under- Sports “Breakfast with the Gators” and again Tues- classmen: day, Nov. 6, at 11 p.m. (replays available in SEC QB - 75.0 DL - 78.5 territory). TE - 33.3 DB - 71.4 THE GATOR RADIO NETWORK RB - 83.3 LB - 100.0 The Gator Radio Network team of Mick Hubert WR - 70.0 K - 50.0 (play-by-play), Lee McGriff (color) and Steve Babik OL - 68.7 (sideline) will broadcast the contest. Scot Brantley joins Babik as co-host of pregame. WFXJ radio A total of 19 Gators have made their first career start this season (Tebow, Ma. Pouncey, Pupello, (930-AM in Jacksonville) serves as UF’s flagship Hernandez, Henry, Cooper, Cunningham, A.J. Jones, Pierre-Louis, Haden, Munroe, Antwine, Nelson, station. The pre-game show begins two hours Hurt, James, Wright, Fayson, Rickerson, Stamper). before kickoff. There is also a 90-minute show following the conclusion of the game. Entering the Ole Miss game (UF’s first road game of the year), 35 members of the Florida travel SATELLITE RADIO roster had not played in a road game. Among the total were 18 true freshmen who were making the Florida football can be heard on Sirius Satellite first road trip of their careers. Radio. Fans can log on to www.sirius.com each week for information regarding specific channels. There are 57 players on the Florida scholarship roster that are either a freshman or sophomore (73 percent). 2007 FLORIDA FOOTBALL WWW.GATORZONE.COM WHAT’S NEW WITH THE GATORS... Of the 25 true freshmen on the Florida squad, 14 spent last season on a team that played for a state 2007 SEC STANDINGS (as of 10/27/07) championship during their senior season. EASTERN DIVISION Team SEC Pct. Overall Florida returned 38 letterwinners to the 2007 team. The total is the lowest in the SEC and tied with Georgia 4-2 .667 6-2 Tennessee 3-2 .600 5-3 six others for the 99th-lowest total in the nation. Florida 3-3 .600 5-3 South Carolina 3-3 .500 6-3 Florida lost 25 letterwinners from the 2006 national championship team. The total is tied with Kentucky 2-3 .400 6-3 Tennessee for the most lost in the SEC and it is tied for the 13th-highest amount lost in the nation. Vanderbilt 2-3 .400 5-3 WESTERN DIVISION Going into 2006, the Gators brought back 10 players who began playing for UF in the fall semester Team SEC Pct. Overall of 2002. In 2007, Florida returned three that started in the fall of 2003 (Andre Caldwell, Clint LSU 4-1 .800 7-1 McMillan and Carlton Medder). Alabama 4-1 .800 6-2 Auburn 4-2 .667 6-3 Florida Freshmen Notes From 2007 Season Mississippi State 2-3 .400 5-4 Arkansas 1-3 .250 5-3 UF started a true freshman on opening day for the third-straight year under head coach Urban Ole Miss 0-6 .000 2-7 Meyer. THIS WEEK IN THE SEC NOV. 3 UF started three true freshmen on opening day for the first time in school history (Maurkice Pouncey, Joe Haden and Chas Henry). Haden and Pouncey became the first true freshmen to start Georgia vs. Troy, 1 p.m. on opening day in UF history at cornerback and offensive guard, respectively. Chas Henry was the South Carolina at Arkansas, 2 p.m. eighth true freshman punter to start on opening day. Northwestern State at Ole Miss, 2 p.m. Tennessee Tech at Auburn, 2:30 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette at Tennessee, 4 p.m. Tight end Aaron Hernandez started the Troy game and became the first true freshman to start at the position since Tate Casey did so against Middle Tennessee State in 2004. Also, free safety Major LSU at Alabama, 5 p.m., CBS Wright started the Auburn game. The last true freshman to start at free safety for Florida was Lester Norwood against The Citadel in 1998. All Times Eastern Overall, 42 players who saw action in the 2007 season opener were either freshmen or sopho- TRACKING THE OPPONENTS mores. Fourteen true freshmen played, as did 10 redshirt freshmen. UF played 64 players total, 21 of those were making their first-ever appearance in “The Swamp.” WESTERN KENTUCKY (5-3) at Chattanooga Last week: W, 50-14, vs. N.C. Central Next week: vs. Troy Florida’s 14 true freshmen and 24 overall freshmen that played in the season opener were the most by any team in the Southeastern Conference. TROY (6-2) at Georgia Last week: W, 27-0, at Arkansas State Next week: at Western Kentucky HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER Coach Meyer has started his Florida career with a 16-1 (.941) record in “The Swamp” and is 38-3 TENNESSEE (5-3) vs. Louisiana-Lafayette Last week: W, 27-24 OT, vs. South Carolina (.927) at home as a head coach. In addition, Coach Meyer has opened his career at UF with a 20- Next week: vs. Arkansas 2 record in games played in the state of Florida. at Ole Miss (2-7) vs. Northwestern State Last week: L, 17-3, at Auburn With the win over Kentucky following Florida’s bye week this year, Urban Meyer moved to 23-2 Next week: Idle (.920) all-time when having more than one week to prepare for a game. AUBURN (6-3) vs. Tennessee Tech Last week: W, 17-3, vs. Ole Miss With the win over Tennessee, Urban Meyer became the only head coach in Florida history to open Next week: at Georgia his career with three-straight wins over the Vols. at LSU (7-1) at Alabama Florida has been ranked in the AP, Coaches’ and BCS polls each week since Urban Meyer’s arrival Last week: Idle Next week: at Ole Miss in Gainesville, which is a streak of 40-straight AP and Coaches’ polls (based on polls as of Oct.